SMDI International
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SMDI International
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Highlighting links for sites for resources regarding Muscular Dystrophy and Allied Disorders/Disabilities and health concerns. |
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Anaesthetics by Dr P J Halsall and Professor F R Ellis |
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People with neuromuscular disorders must take care if they are to have a local or general
anaesthetic. Even someone with very mild, or non-existent symptoms, or someone who has
a family history of a disorder, needs to let the anaesthetist know well in advance so
that tests can be carried out and proper care after the operation can be arranged.
Who should read this?
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Respiratory Insufficiency
Making Breathing Easier |
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Breathing difficulties can affect some individuals with neuromuscular disorders.
Simple measures can be taken to reduce these problems, and in many situations it is
possible to provide excellent control of symptoms.
Breathing problems include an increased susceptibility to chest infections, difficulty
coughing and clearing phlegm, breathlessness, and under-breathing (known as Hypoventilation)
particularly during sleep. This report provides background information on how families
can help in the management of respiratory problems and identify symptoms which require investigation.
Respiratory muscle weakness is relatively common in most neuromuscular conditions and is
inevitable in the late stages of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The age at which respiratory problems
develop varies enormously. The youngest children we have treated for nocturnal
hypoventilation have intermediate spinal muscular atrophy (Type II) and require
breathing support at the age of 1-2 years.
http://www.sonnet.co.uk/muscular-dystrophy/homeframe.html for more information.
Breathe easy Options Offered for Respiratory Care |
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This is the first of a two-part series on respiratory care. When most of us think of breathing, we think first about our lungs, those spongy pink lobes where oxygen enters the blood and carbon dioxide leaves it. However, lungs can't do their job without the efforts of another, equally important group of structures, the muscle of ventilation.
For many people with neuromuscular disease, progressive weakness of these muscles
significantly affects health, mobility and quality of life. In fact, for people with
severe, generalized neuromuscular disease, complications from ventilatory muscle
weakness are a major cause of death. As John Bach, co-director of the MDA clinic
at the New Jersey Medical School in Newark, puts it,
"Breathing in and coughing out are the two most important medical issues for a
person with neuromuscular disease".
More contacts:
IVUN News links ventilator users with each other and with health care professionals
interested in mechanical ventilation and home care.
e-mail: gini_int@msn.com
For more information on ventilators and related issues, |
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An important muscle which can be affected in muscular dystrophy is the heart itself. Dr Ros Quinliven
outlines the symptons to look for, and the treatments. As with other muscles in the body, there is potential for the disease process in muscular dystrophy to affect the heart. This is important for certain types of muscular dystrophy including Duchenne, Becker, Emery-Dreifuss and Myotonic dystophy. In most patients involvement of the cardiac muscle will be so slight as to cause no symptoms at all and no action may be necessary. However, in a few patients, involvement of the heart may need treatment.
http://www.sonnet.co.uk/muscular-dystrophy/homeframe.html click on CARE |
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